While most of Florida’s recruiting efforts are focused on the class of 2024 these days, there is still some news coming out of the class of 2025.
The Gators offered wide receiver [autotag]Hardley Gilmore[/autotag] at the beginning of the month, joining a laundry list of Power Five programs that are competing for his services. The Pahokee, Florida, native burst onto the scene after a strong freshman year and transferring to IMG Academy. He holds offers from Alabama, Georgia and Florida State among others.
Florida is a program that’s very close to home for Gilmore. According to 247Sports, his parents are big UF fans, which should help the Gators to some degree. They should be able to fill him in on the history of the program, and he’s already had a taste of what the school has to offer on a previous visit.
Blessed and Honored to be offered from The University of Florida🧡💙! @ForexxManny @kearycolbert @Jamar51Chaney pic.twitter.com/ccxx1qexph
— Hardley Gilmore IV (@GilmoreHardley) February 1, 2023
Florida should be able to get Gilmore back on campus relatively soon. Although he has two more years left in his recruitment, he’s a name they are focusing on early. The recruiting staff is still getting know him better, but the foundation is there for a stronger relationship to develop.
“I most definitely will visit Florida. I want to visit Florida, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma, ‘Bama, and probably Georgia. I want to get out to see as many of those places as I can when the spring starts. I have a good relationship with Coach (Jamar) Chaney at Florida, so I want to come and check them out.”
Gilmore also has a few player connections to the program. He’s friends with offensive lineman [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag] and defensive lineman [autotag]Will Norman[/autotag], which is how Florida found him in the first place. There’s no doubt both will be recruiting him to reunite in Gainesville.
None of the major recruiting services have grades out for the majority of the class of 2025, so it’s hard to gauge where Gilmore stands on a national level. The On3 recruiting prediction machine does favor UCF in his recruitment right now, though. The Knights have the best odds to land him at 19.5% followed by Florida A&M at 17.1% and Florida State at 14.6%.
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